from the team:

Hi everyone,

It has become increasingly common for authoritarian governments to go beyond purely online technical measures to discourage or block VPN use. Certain countries have even begun demanding citizens hand over their smartphones for physical inspection. Protecting free speech and fighting censorship is a core part of our mission and we're committed to doing what we can to help users around the world.

With today’s announcement, we hope to give people the tools they need to bypass censorship and access a free and fair internet wherever they are:

• Windows Stealth: Proton’s unique anti-censorship protocol, Stealth, comes to Windows, disguising VPN traffic as normal internet traffic, making it almost impossible to detect when someone is using a VPN: https://protonvpn.com/blog/stealth-vpn-protocol
• New servers: in 12 countries among those at the bottom of the Freedom House Index and the Democracy Index
• Discreet Icon: Android users can customize the Proton VPN app icon and name, and even disguise it to look like another unrelated application to protect users in authoritarian regimes where VPN users may be at risk.

Proton VPN's mission is to ensure freedom of speech and fight online censorship everywhere. Here’s how to get started with Proton VPN for free: ~https://protonvpn.com/free-vpn~

Let us know what you think. You can also propose, vote, and discuss feature requests on ~User Voice~.

Proton Team